System and method for a subscriber-powered network element

ABSTRACT

A system for powering a network element of a fiber optic wide area network is disclosed. When communication data is transferred between a central office (CO) and a subscriber terminal using a network element to convert optical to electrical (O-E) and electrical to optical (E-O) signals between a fiber from the central office and twisted wire pair, coaxial cable or Ethernet cable transmission lines from the subscriber terminal, techniques related to local powering of a network element or drop site by the subscriber terminal or subscriber premise remote powering device are provided. Certain advantages and/or benefits are achieved using the present invention, such as freedom from any requirement for additional meter installations or meter connection charges and does not require a separate power network.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is filed under 37 C.F.R. §1.53(b)(2) as acontinuation-in-part claiming the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 of patentapplication Ser. No. 12/714,543, “System and Method For ASubscriber-Powered Network Element”, which was filed by the sameinventors on Feb. 28, 2010 claiming the benefit under 37 C.F.R.§1.53(b)(2) of patent application Ser. No. 11/764,228, “System andMethod For A Subscriber-Powered Network Element”, which was filed by thesame inventors on Jul. 17, 2007 claiming the benefit under 37 C.F.R.§1.53(b)(2) of patent application Ser. No. 11/369,512 which was filed bythe same inventors on Mar. 1, 2006, now abandoned, claiming the benefitunder 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.60/657,511 filed on Mar. 1, 2005, now expired, and entirely incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[02] The invention relates generally to fiber optic communicationnetworks, more specifically to the electrical powering architecture ofoptical access networks, wide area networks, and broadbandcommunications or telecommunication systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With increasing customer or subscriber demand for transmitting andreceiving increasingly greater amounts of information, telecommunicationand broadband cable communication companies are being pushed to upgradetheir wide area network (WAN) or broadband access communication networkinfrastructures. In order to supply more information in the form ofvideo, audio and telephony at higher rates, higher bandwidthcommunication network upgrades or new deployments are required. Twistedwire pair cable, such as used in plain old telephone services, do notsupport high bandwidths over a great distance; and while coaxial cables,such as used in cable television services, do a better job, it too hasreach and bandwidth limitations. Optical fiber can provide virtuallyunlimited bandwidth thus enabling broadband and multimedia services.

Modern telephone wide area network access infrastructures, such as fiberin the loop networks (FITL), utilize a combination of fiber optics andtwisted wire pair to send and receive data communications to and from asubscriber. While modern cable wide area network access infrastructures,such as Hybrid Fiber Coaxial networks (HFC), utilize a combination offiber optic and coaxial cable to send and receive data communications toand from a subscriber. Generally, subscribers are served by twisted wirepair in the last mile or so of the telecommunication networks or bycoaxial cable within the last two to three miles or so of cablenetworks. In order to achieve greater bandwidth rates at a subscriberlocation, the fiber optic network must be brought closer to thesubscriber so that the copper drop (e.g., twisted wire pair or coaxialcable) is of a sufficiently short distance and will be capable ofsupporting increased data transfer rates.

One major problem with bringing fiber cable within a short distance of asubscriber location is the added burden of maintaining the multitude ofoptical to copper drop sites. These drop sites are network elements thatare called optical network units (ONUs) or optical network terminals(ONTs) in telecommunication networks and optical node (or simply a node)in hybrid fiber cable networks and generally serve to convertinformation between the optical domain of a fiber and electrical domainof a twisted pair or coaxial cable.

A significant part of the provisioning and maintenance of these dropsites by Service Providers or their affiliates (e.g., broadband accessservice provider, application service providers, internet serviceproviders, managed service providers, master managed service providers,managed internet service providers, telecommunication service providers,campus service providers, cable service providers, wireless backhaulproviders) is supplying the electrical power required. Optical fiberitself is not capable of carrying the electricity to power these dropsites. This creates a challenge in planning, distributing and deploymentof electricity to power the drop site energy needs. Furthermore, reservepower must also be provided if the main power supply to the drop sitefails and with enough reserve powering capacity capable of meetingperformance and reliability requirements of the network for severalhours or even days. This is often the case with Lifeline telephonyservice, which is required in plain old telephone service networks.Lifeline telephone means that the subscriber telephones must remainenergized and operational during an AC supply power interruption oroutage at the subscriber premise.

The drop sites are typically centrally powered from a Service Provideror affiliates' distributed copper facility or a power node located neara cluster of drop sites, or locally powered from a nearby commercial orutility electrical power source, or with solar photovoltaic energy.

In the case of centralized power, power is typically provided over newor existing copper facilities from a central office (CO). Power can alsobe provided on separate twisted wire pair or coaxial cable that arebonded to the outside of a fiber cable bundle, woven within a fiberoptical cable bundle or deployed separately with the fiber duringinstallation of the fiber from the central office. However, centralizedpower is a strategy that requires a separate power network to bedeployed that is separate from the information network. With increasingdistances between a central office or head-end to the remote drop sitesincreased voltages are required on the power network to feed the dropsite energy needs. Increased voltages raise craft safety issues.Alternatively, the power network may be augmented with power nodeslocated near a cluster of drop sites, however additional metallicenclosures increase susceptibility to electrical surges caused bylightning and power-line induction. Furthermore, there is the 24-hour aday cost of supplying electricity to the power network, as well asregular maintenance and support of the power network itself includingregular replacement of batteries for Lifeline services, which aregenerally located at the CO or head-end.

In the case of locally powered drop sites, power is derived near a dropsite and reserve power is provided with batteries at the drop site. Theprimary energy source for this architecture is commercial AC powertapped directly from a power utility's facility. The power supply isplaced in a small environmentally hardened enclosure that could beco-located with a drop site; however, the batteries are generally in thesame enclosure as the drop site. This results in a large number ofbattery sites and power access points. Generally the cost of this typeof system is high primarily due to the cost of connecting drop sites toa commercial power source. Regional power utility companies may insiston metered connections to their power grid, incurring a one-time acmeter installation and connection charge to be levied. Additionally aminimum monthly meter charge may be levied regardless of usage. Thisposes a major problem when the monthly energy consumption of a drop siteis significantly lower than the minimum charge.

In the case of electrically powering the communication networkinfrastructure locally with solar power, this strategy minimizes some ofthe disadvantages of centralized and locally powering such asvulnerability to lightning and limited battery reserve, allowing fiberto be the sole distribution facility. Solar panels and large batteriesare co-located at drop sites, which power the drop sites continuouslywithout any connection to any power grid. However, its use is limited toareas with direct access to sunlight as the output of solar panelsdecreases with a reduction in incident solar energy. Therefore, thisstrategy cannot be used everywhere. In addition, solar power requiresbatteries of large capacity (Wh) to be installed.

As such, a need exists for powering a fiber optic communication networkelement that brings optical access fiber within a short distance of asubscriber premise or customer location. The electrical poweringstrategy or architecture of the fiber optic wide area network must becapable of supporting and operating the multitude of drop sites ornetwork elements in a cost effective and maintainable manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, techniques related to subscriber orreverse powering or backfeeding of a network element or drop site of awide area access network by a subscriber terminal, adaptor, router,server, gateway, or customer premise equipment (CPE) which combines anelectrical power signal or electricity, which may be derived fromsubscriber mains power (e.g., AC power), with the electrical datacommunications as a combined electrical WAN signal over the samecommunication medium connecting the network element or drop site and thesubscriber terminal, adaptor, router, server, gateway or CPE areprovided. Certain advantages and/or benefits may be achieved usingembodiments of the present invention. For example, the embodiments ofthe present invention have the advantage of being free of anyrequirement for additional meter installations or meter connectioncharges. Additionally, embodiments of the present invention have theadvantage of reducing labor installation time and costs and enablingsubscriber self-installation. Furthermore, embodiments of the presentinvention do not create a separate power network. The informationnetwork and the power network are the same network in that they sharethe same transmission line (e.g., twisted copper wire pair or twistedwire pair, coaxial cable or Ethernet cable), thus the communicationnetwork can be powered in a cost effective and maintainable manner.

In general, in one aspect, an embodiment of the invention includes asystem for powering a network element of a fiber optic wide areanetwork, such as a fiber in the loop network, which transmitscommunication data between a central office (CO) and subscriber terminalor customer premise equipment. The network element, such as a drop site,having an at least one optical port and at least one electrical port,serves, among other functions, to convert optical-to-electrical (O-E)and electrical-to-optical (E-O) signals carrying information between afiber from the central office and twisted wire pair to the subscriberterminal. The subscriber terminal or a remote user device furtherincludes a DC power source, a communication device such as a high-speedclient modem, and an electrical coupling device such as a SubscriberLine Interface Circuit (SLIC) device that includes means for couplingthe communications of the client modem and the DC power output of the DCpower source on to the same physical communication medium. The networkelement further includes a communication device such as a high-speed COmodem, a DC-to-DC power converter, and an electrical coupling devicesuch as a Data Access Arrangement (DAA) device that includes means forcoupling the electrical communications of the CO modem and deliver DCpower from the subscriber terminal to the network element's DC-to-DCpower supply converter. A pair of twisted wires that is in electricalcommunication between the subscriber terminal and the network elementserves as a medium for DC power transfer to the network element and formodem communications. In this way, the network element is powered by thesubscriber premise over the twisted wire pair cable and the modems arein communication over the same twisted wire pair cable.

Aspects of an embodiment of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing features. The fiber optic wide area network is a fiber in theloop network such as a Fiber to the Curb (FTTC) network, a Fiber to thePremise (FTTP) network, a Fiber to the Node (FTTN) network, a Fiber tothe Basement (FTTB) network, a Fiber to the Cell Tower network, Fiber tothe Distribution Point (FTTdp), Fiber to the Drop or Door (FTTD) or somecombination thereof. Furthermore, the Fiber in the loop network may be apoint-to-point network or a point-to-multipoint network, such as aPassive Optical Network (PON). For example, the Fiber in the loopnetwork may be a point-to-point Fiber to the Curb network (FTTC-P2P) ora passive optical Fiber to the Distribution Point network (FTTdp-PON)implementation. The communication devices or modems, according to anembodiment of the invention, may be Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) typeof modems such as Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) modems,Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber line (VDSL) modems, orVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line 2 (VDSL2) modems. Thecommunication devices or modems may also be Power Line, also calledPower Line Communication or Power Line Carrier (PLC), modems.Additionally the communication devices or modems may be ITU-T G.hnmodems (e.g., MAC/PHY) or ITU-T G.fast modems (.e.g., MAC/PHY). Theelectrical coupling devices such as the SLIC and DAA devices maycomprise coupling capacitors, coupling transformers, blocking inductors,or perform inductive coupling. Furthermore, the SLIC and DAA devices mayinclude elements for low pass filtering, bandpass filtering, and/or highpass filtering. The SLIC device will limit the current of thetransmitted DC power to non-hazardous levels for the potential ofunprotected human contact (e.g., ITU-T K.50, ITU-T K.51 and ITU-T K.33).The pair of twisted wires is a twisted wire pair wire such as 22, 24 or26 gauge twisted wire pair, but may also be for example a single pairfrom a category 3 cable, or a single pair from a category 5 cable. Thenetwork element that is powered by the subscriber maybe an opticalnetwork unit (ONU) or an optical network terminal (ONT). The subscriberterminal, customer premise equipment or remote user device may furtherinclude one or more of the following features for remote user use: anEthernet local area network (LAN), a WiFi network, a Voice over IP(VoIP) service, an IPTV service, interactive broadband communicationsservices or combination thereof. The subscriber terminal, customerpremise equipment or remote user device my also provide Plain OldTelephone Service (POTS) or Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATA) functions andinclude a battery backup in case of subscriber mains power loss toprovide lifeline support. The battery may be user, customer orsubscriber replaceable. The battery may also be located at the networkelement. The DC power supply at the subscriber or customer premise maybe a DC-to-DC power supply or an AC-to-DC power supply and theelectrical power may be derived from the subscriber mains power by theDC-to-DC or AC-to-DC power supply.

In general, in another aspect, an embodiment of the invention includes asystem for powering a network element of a fiber optic wide areanetwork, such as a fiber to the premise (FTTP) network, which enablesbroadband communications between a CO and a subscriber or customer. Thenetwork element, such as an ONU or ONT, generally, at a high leveldescription, serves to convert information from the optical domain ofoptical fiber coming to the network element from a CO to electricalsignals on twisted wire pairs or that run between the network elementand a subscriber terminal or customer premise equipment. The ONU or ONTmay be located at the subscriber or customer premise, specifically atthe point of demarcation, network interface device (NID) (e.g., in anenclosure at the side of the subscriber premise) or at a pedestal.Alternatively, the ONT may be located within the subscriber or customerpremise (i.e. on the subscriber's side of the NID) when allowed by localregulation. While not shown in the following embodiments of the presentinvention, alternative embodiments with the ONT inside the subscriber'spremise are possible and implied. The subscriber terminal or a remoteuser device further includes an electrical coupling device such as aPower over Ethernet (PoE) Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) and acommunication device such as an Ethernet PHY device. The PSE is coupledto two or four pairs of wires, such as in a category 5 cable, to the ONUor ONT at the NID. The ONU or ONT further includes an electricalcoupling device such as a PoE Powered Device (PD) that accepts powerfrom the PSE and powers the ONU or ONT. Additionally the ONU or ONTincludes a second communication device such as an Ethernet PHY deviceenabling Ethernet communication between the subscriber terminal orremote user device and the ONU or ONT at the NID. In this way, thenetwork element is powered by Power over Ethernet from a subscriber orcustomer premise and capable of communications with the subscriberterminal over the same pairs of wires. The subscriber terminal, customerpremise equipment or remote user device may further include one or moreof the following features for remote user use: an Ethernet local areanetwork (LAN), a WiFi network, a Voice over IP (VoIP) service, an IPTVservice or interactive broadband communications services or combinationthereof.

In general, in one aspect, an embodiment of the invention includes asystem for powering a first network element of a fiber optic wide areanetwork, such as a hybrid fiber coaxial network, which transmitscommunication data between a head-end and a subscriber terminal orcustomer premise equipment. The first network element, such as a dropsite, serves to convert optical to electrical (O-E) and electrical tooptical (E-O) signals between a fiber from the head-end and coaxialcable to the subscriber terminal. The subscriber terminal or a remoteuser device further includes a DC power source, a communication devicesuch as a high-speed client modem or client network device, and a firstelectrical coupling device that includes means for coupling thecommunications of the client modem or client network device to the DCpower output of the DC power source. The network element furtherincludes a communication device such as a high-speed head-end modem oraccess network controller device, a DC-to-DC power converter, and asecond electrical coupling device that includes means for couplingcommunications of the head-end modem or network access controller deviceand delivers DC power to the DC-to-DC power converter. A coaxial cablethat is coupled between the subscriber terminal and the network elementserves the medium for DC power transfer to the network element and fornetwork communications. In this way, the first network element ispowered by the subscriber terminal over the coaxial cable and the modemsor network devices are in communication over the same coaxial cable.

Aspects of an embodiment of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing features. The communication devices or modems, according to anembodiment of the invention, may be Data Over Cable Service InterfaceSpecification (DOCSIS) modems. The communication devices or modems maybe Power Line, also called Power Line Communication or Power LineCarrier (PLC), modems. The communication devices or network devices mayalso be HomePNA, Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA), ITU-T G.hn, orITU-T G.fast capable devices. The first and second electrical couplingdevices may comprise coupling capacitors, coupling transformers,isolation transformers, center-tapped transformers, blocking inductors,common mode chokes or perform inductive coupling. Furthermore, the firstand second electrical coupling devices may include elements for low passfiltering, bandpass filtering, and/or high pass filtering. The firstelectrical coupling device will limit the current of the DC powertransferred to the network element to non-hazardous levels. The firstnetwork element that is powered by the subscriber terminal maybe anoptical node, network node or simply node. The subscriber terminal,customer premise equipment or remote user device may further include oneor more of the following features for remote user use: an Ethernet localarea network (LAN), a WiFi network, a Voice over IP (VoIP) service, oran IPTV service. The subscriber terminal, customer premise equipment orremote user device my also provide Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)and include a battery backup in case of subscriber main power loss toprovide lifeline support. The battery may be user, customer orsubscriber replaceable at or near the subscriber terminal or CPE. Thebattery may also be located at the network element. The DC power supplyat the subscriber or customer premise may be a DC-to-DC power supply oran AC-to-DC power supply. A second network element, such as a tap, mayfurther contain a device that combines the power and communication fromone or more coaxial cables from other subscribers or customer premisesto the first network element or node. The first network element may becapable of being powered from the power received from a singlesubscriber or customer premise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram illustration of a Fiber-to-the-Curb (FTTC)or Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN) point-to-multipoint passive optical network(PON) with an ONU network element powered by a subscriber's customerpremise equipment (CPE) or subscriber terminal (ST) using a singletwisted wire pair, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 b is a block diagram illustration of a Fiber-to-the-Curb (FTTC)or Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN) point-to-multipoint passive optical network(PON) with an ONU network element powered by a subscriber terminal orCPE using a single twisted wire pair, in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustration of a method of an embodiment of thepresent invention for powering a network element with twisted wire paircable.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustration of a FTTC or FTTN point-to-point(PtP) optical wide area network with an ONU network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a single twisted wire pair wire, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustration of a FTTC or FTTNpoint-to-multipoint PON with an ONU network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a single twisted wire pair while COprovides Lifeline powering across same twisted wire pair, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustration of a Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP)point-to-multipoint PON with an ONT network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a single twisted wire pair wire, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipoint PONwith an ONT network element powered by a subscriber's CPE or ST using asingle twisted wire pair with the CO providing Lifeline powering forPlain Old Telephone Service (POTS) using a second twisted wire pairwire, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 a is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipointPON with an ONT network element powered by a subscriber's CPE or STusing Power over Ethernet (PoE) over a single Ethernet cable, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 b is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipointPON with an ONT network element and a CPE/ST powered by another CPE/STusing Power over Ethernet (PoE) over a single Ethernet cable, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 c is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipointPON with an ONT network element powered a CPE/ST using Power overEthernet (PoE) over a single Ethernet cable, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustration of a method of an embodiment of thepresent invention for powering a network element utilizing Power overEthernet (PoE).

FIG. 9 a is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-pointoptical network with an ONT network element powered by subscriber's CPEor ST using Power over Ethernet (PoE) over a single Ethernet cable, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 b is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-pointoptical network with an ONU network element powered by subscriber's CPEor ST using Power over Ethernet (PoE) over a single Ethernet cable, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustration of a FTTC or FTTNpoint-to-multipoint PON with an ONU network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a coaxial cable, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustration of a method of an embodiment of thepresent invention for powering a network element utilizing power overcoaxial cable.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-point opticalnetwork with an ONT network element powered by subscriber's CPE or STusing power over coaxial cable, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 a is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipointPON with an ONT network element powered by a subscriber's CPE or STusing a coaxial cable, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 b is a block diagram illustration of a FTTP point-to-multipointPON with an ONT network element powered by a subscriber's CPE or STusing a coaxial cable, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 14 a is a block diagram illustration of a FTTC or FTTNpoint-to-multipoint PON with an ONU network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a coaxial cable, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 b is a block diagram illustration of a FTTC or FTTNpoint-to-multipoint PON with an ONU network element powered by asubscriber's CPE or ST using a coaxial cable, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 a is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining data communications andelectrical power.

FIG. 15 b is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining data communications and DCelectrical power in view of FIG. 1 a.

FIG. 15 c is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining data communications and ACelectrical power in view of FIG. 1 a.

FIG. 16 a is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining Ethernet communications and DCelectrical power.

FIG. 16 b is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining Ethernet communications and DCelectrical power in view of FIG. 7 a.

FIG. 17 a is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combining data communications and DCelectrical power.

FIG. 17 b is an illustration of an exemplary circuit model of anelectrical coupling device for combing data communications and DCelectrical power in view of FIG. 10.

FIG. 18 is an illustration of a chart depicting the frequency spectrumof various communication protocols.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction withthese embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended tolimit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the inventionis intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, whichmay be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following description of thepresent invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits havenot been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects ofthe present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1 a, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout several views andembodiments; and wherein cascading boxes below a part designates aplurality of such parts, an exemplary embodiment of an electrical powerarchitecture for a fiber optic wide area network is shown incorporatinga subscriber-powered network element, according to the presentinvention. A FTTC or FTTN network using a PON (e.g., B-PON ITU-T G.983,G-PON ITU-T G.984, XG-PON ITU-T G.987, E-PON IEEE 802.3ah, 10G-EPON IEEE802.3av, WDM-PON, TWDM-PON or RFoG SCTE IPS910) connects a centraloffice (CO) 100 at the head-end of a passive optical distribution fabric(ODF) 102 to a subscriber premise 104. The subscriber premise 104 may bea residential home, a multi-dwelling unit (MDU), a commercial building,or a cell tower. The passive ODF 102 is comprised of a plurality ofpassive optical splitters 106 and connectors (not shown). An OpticalLine Terminal (OLT) 108, which is generally located at the CO 100 butmay be located in a remote or outside plant (OSP) cabinet, acts as acentral transmission point and an overall controlling device for thenetwork. The OLT 108 is in communication through the ODF 102 with aplurality of Optical Network Units (ONUs) 110 located in neighborhoodterminals (also called pedestals) in FTTdp or FTTC networks 112 or incabinets in FTTN networks 114.

The OLT 108 transmits and receives data to and from the ONUs 110 in theform of modulated optical light signals of known wavelength through theODF 102. The transmission mode of the data sent over the ODF 102 may becontinuous, burst or both burst and continuous modes. The transmissionsmay be made in accordance with a time-division multiplexing (TDM) schemeor similar protocol. Frequently bi-directional wavelength-divisionmultiplexing (WDM) is used and although the FTTC/FTTN networkillustrated in FIG. 1 a includes an OLT 108 in communication with aplurality of ONUs using a plurality of fibers, other implementations ofsuch networks may only use ONTs or some combination of ONUs 110 and ONTs110. In some implementations, the ONUs and ONTs are generally similar.In other implementations, the ONUs and ONTs may differ in one or moreaspects. As previously mentioned, the ONUs and ONTs are drop sitenetwork elements that generally, at a high level description, serve toconvert information between the optical domain of a fiber and electricaldomain of a twisted wire pair wire or possibly coaxial cable.

An ONT is a single integrated electronics unit that terminates the PONand presents native service interfaces to the user or subscriber. An ONUis an electronics unit that terminates the PON and may present one ormore converged interfaces, such as xDSL or Ethernet, toward thesubscriber. An ONU typically requires a separate subscriber unit toprovide native user services such as telephony, Ethernet data, or video.In practice, the difference between an ONT and ONU is frequentlyignored, and either term is used generically to refer to both classes ofequipment. Although in the hybrid fiber coaxial network case, ONUs/ONTsare called nodes, optical nodes or even taps depending on where thefiber network ends and the coaxial cable network begins.

Referring again to FIG. 1 a, an exemplary embodiment of an ONU 110 iscomprised of the following functional blocks: a PON transceiver 116, aPON client Transmission Convergence Layer (TC-Layer) unit 118; a COmodem aggregation and adaptation layer unit 120; a plurality of DigitalSubscriber Line (xDSL, i.e. ADSL, VDSL, or VDSL2) CO modems 122; aplurality of Digital Access Arrangement (DAA) units 124; a plurality ofDC-to-DC power converters 126, and a power supply 128.

The client PON transceiver 116 comprises the necessary components toconvert optical-to-electrical (O/E) signal communications from the OLT108 as well as convert electrical-to-optical (E/O) signal communicationsand communicate them to the OLT 108. The PON transceiver 116 may beplugged into or comprise an optical port or socket, the optical portserving as a site for coupling to a fiber and for performing the O/E andE/O conversions.

Some embodiments of network elements may be made without opticaltransceivers, however having an optical port for later installation ofan optical transceiver. In embodiments of network elements made with anoptical transceiver, the optical port and the optical transceiver areessentially the same. Some form factors for PON transceiver 116 include,but not limited to, SFF, SFP, SFP+, and XFP. The PON transceiver 116communicates electrically with the TC-Layer 118. The TC-Layer 118comprises the functionality of: bundling or encapsulating and sendingdata into upstream subscriber data packets or frames; receiving andun-bundling or decapsulating data into downstream subscriber datapackets or frames; managing the transmission of packets or frames on thenetwork via medium access and bandwidth allocation protocols; providingnecessary messaging and end point behavior, and checks, reports and maycorrect for detectable errors. The TC-Layer 118 communicates with boththe PON transceiver 116 and optionally an 1:N aggregation and CO modemadaptation layer 120.

The 1:N aggregation and CO modem adaptation layer 120 has severalfunctions. Modem communications over twisted wire pair transmissionlines have lower bandwidth rates than communications over fiber. Thus toefficiently use the higher bandwidth rates of the fiber, thecommunications from multiple modems may be pooled ormultiplexed/demultiplexed together (e.g., buffered using a first infirst out manner). Modem communications from as many as one to some Nnumber, for the purposes of this disclosure, may be aggregated ormultiplexed/demultiplexed together. For example, some 96 modems can beaggregated together. The 1:N aggregation and CO modem adaptation layer120 communications electrically to an N number of modems. Each modemserving to enable communications to/from a unique subscriber premise 104over a unique twisted wire pair 130. Additionally, in some embodiments,multiple modem communications may be binded or bonded together to/from aunique subscriber premise to achieve data rates beyond the capability ofa single modem, these communications may also be aggregated by the 1:Naggregation and CO modem adaption layer 120. Additionally, in someembodiments, the modem communications may comprise data that haspriority over other data and the 1:N aggregation and CO modem adaptationlayer 120 can aggregate or multiplex/demultiplex priority data beforedata that does not have priority. Communication devices such as xDSLcapable modems 122 are chosen as the preferred modem types however it isenvisioned that many types of modems can be used for communications overtwisted pair wires or even coaxial cable transmission lines to asubscriber premise 104. The xDSL capable modems of 122 are centraloffice (CO) or head-end type modems. Each modem is in electricalcommunication with an electrical coupling device such as a DAA 124 andthe DAA 124 is coupled to an electrical port or socket (e.g., RJ-11)which is then coupled to twisted wire pair 130.

A DAA is an interface that protects electronics connected to atelecommunication network from local-loop disturbances and vice versa. ADAA in general can mean many things because a DAA must perform variedand complex functions, including but not limited to line termination,isolation, hybrid functions, caller-ID and ring detection. A DAA mustalso provide a loop switch so that the DAA looks on- or off-hook to theloop; detect the state of the line and the incoming ringing signal, aswell as include support of full-duplex operation. The InternationalTelecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T)series G specification for transmission systems and media, digitalsystems and networks contains many documents, recommendations andspecifications regarding DAA, as well as subscriber line interfacecircuits (SLIC) 132, specifically ITU-T G.100-109 specifications thatare hereby included by reference.

For the purpose and needs of an embodiment of the present invention, theelectrical coupling device DAA 124 is a device that: meets localregulatory requirements which differ by country or region; provides ameasure of protection for both a network element, such as ONU 110, andthe local-loop such as twisted wire pair 130 transmission line; passesAC and/or DC based signal information to and from a modem, such as xDSLCO modem 122, as well as decouples or passes DC power (DC current and DCvoltage) (e.g. using a low pass filter) to a DC-to-DC power converter126 from a twisted wire pair 130 transmission line. Additionally, theDAA 124 provides isolation protection to the modem from potentiallydamaging high voltage (e.g., from a lightning strike or malfunctioningequipment) on the twist pair 130. The DAA 124 device may be of a designthat is transformer-based, optically-based, capacitively coupled-based,silicon/integrated circuit-based, or some combination thereof whichoffer virtues in size, cost, and performance.

As previously mentioned or indicated, the ONU 110 can provide broadbandservices to a plurality of subscriber premises 104 over twisted wirepair transmission lines. Located in each subscriber premise 104 is acustomer premise equipment (CPE) or subscriber terminal (ST) device 134which is connected to the twisted wire pair 130. The twisted wire pair130 passes through the demarcation point or network interfacedemarcation (NID) 136 to the CPE or ST 134.

The CPE/ST 134 device and uninterruptable power supply (UPS) 150 ispowered by a subscriber's residential or commercial power outlet whichare derived from subscriber mains power (not shown). The exemplaryCPE/ST 134 is comprised of the functional blocks: a DC power source 138;an xDSL client modem 140; an electrical coupling device such assubscriber line interface circuit (SLIC) 132; optionally one or moreInternet Protocol Television (IPTV) codec and driver 144; optionally oneor more Voice Over IP (VoIP) codec and driver 146 (including FXScircuitry); optionally one or more IEEE 802.11x (WiFi) transceiver 148;optionally a MoCA access network controller (i.e., MoCA MAC/PHY) (notshown); optionally a G.hn MAC/PHY; optionally a WiGig MAC/PHY, and oneor more Ethernet LAN ports 142 with appropriate media access (MAC) andPHYs for operation with a subscriber's local area network (LAN) as wellas with additional switching or routing functions to support the otherservices provided by the CPE/ST 134 (e.g., IPTV 144, VoIP 146, WiFi148).

The DC Power source 138 may be derived from or be part of a DC-to-DCpower supply or an AC-to-DC power supply. The DC Power source 138provides DC power (DC current and DC voltage), which may be derived fromsubscriber mains power (e.g., AC power), in one or more power supplyrails to the electrical coupling device SLIC 132.

Generally, SLICs provide the necessary signals, timing, and controlfunctions for the plain old telephone system (POTS) line. SLICs and DAAsperform complementary functions with some overlap. The requisitefunctions of these devices, although similar at first look, differenough that implementing the technologies requires different techniques.For example, SLICs act as line power drivers as they send ringingsignals down the line and supply line power on to the twisted wire pairtransmission line, generally from batteries, to the far end of the line.DAAs, on the other hand, act more like receivers and use the suppliedline or loop power.

For the purpose and needs of an embodiment of the present invention, theelectrical coupling device SLIC 132 is a device that: meets localregulatory requirements which differ by country or region; provides ameasure of protection for both a network element, such as ONU 110, andthe CPE/ST 104; passes AC and/or DC based information signal to and froma modem, such as xDSL client modem 140; accepts DC power (DC current andDC voltage) from a DC power source, such as 138, and acts as a linepower driver driving the accepted DC power and information signal as acombined electrical WAN signal through WAN port 129 and down a twistedwire pair, such as 130. The SLIC 132 device may be of a design that istransformer-based, optically-based, capacitively coupled-based,silicon/integrated circuit-based, or some combination thereof whichoffer virtues in size, cost, and performance.

The communication device such as xDSL client modem 140 is acomplementary modem to the xDSL CO modem 122 and as previously indicatedis in electrical signal communication with the SLIC 132. With broadbandcommunications established with the CO 100 and with the optional IPTV144, VoIP 146, and WiFi 148 components the CPE/ST 134 is enabled toprovide broadband internet access services, television subscription orpay-per-view services, VoIP services and wireless LAN services andcapabilities.

VoIP service can be used as the primary telephony line service to asubscriber. Primary line means the telephone service will be availableall the time, and may even be available during a significant powerfailure event. In the case where a subscriber suffers a power outage,then the CPE/ST 134 will require a battery or uninterruptible powersource 150 to meet lifeline service requirements, according to anembodiment of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 b, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 1 a is shownwith CPE/ST 135 comprising SLIC 133 and DC Power source 138. SLIC 133operates similar to SLIC 132, coupling DC power from DC power source 138onto twisted cooper wire pair 130 with electrical signal communicationsfrom xDSL client modem 140 via twisted wire pair 131 ontosubscriber-powered twisted wire pair 130. SLIC 133 also decoupleselectrical signal communications from xDSL CO modem 122 on twisted wirepair 130 onto twisted wire pair 131. CPE/ST 135 allows electrical modemsignal communications to be exchanged between network element's CO modem122 and CPE/ST 137 client modem 140 while coupling electrical power foruse by network element ONU 110 on to twisted wire pair 130. In the casewhere a subscriber suffers a power outage, then the CPE/ST 137 andCPE/ST 135 will require a battery or uninterruptible power source 150 tomeet lifeline service requirements, according to an embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to FIG. 2 in view of FIG. 1 a, a flow chart of a method of anembodiment of the present invention is illustrated. Powering a networkelement of a fiber optic wide area network, such as on ONU 110 in FIG. 1a, from a subscriber terminal 134 at a subscriber premise 104 entailsproviding or supplying a DC power (e.g., from DC power source 138) ofsufficient threshold to electrically power the network element onto atwisted wire pair 130 as described at block 200. At block 202,electrical data communications from a communication device or modem, asin a client modem 140 or CO modem 122, are coupled to the same twistedwire pair 130 along with the DC power. At block 204, the DC power andelectrical data communications are transmitted, driven or sent as acombined electrical WAN signal though WAN port 129 or DAA 124 across thetwisted wire pair 130 from the subscriber terminal 134 to the networkelement, such as ONU 110, or vice versa with respect to the electricaldata communications. At block 206, the driven DC power and electricaldata communications as the combined electrical WAN signal are acceptedor received at the network element over the same twisted wire pair 130.At block 208, the network element decouples (e.g., using a high passfilter) the electrical data communications from the DC power, or viceversa (e.g., using a low pass filter), with a DAA device 124. At block210, the network element provides the DC power to a DC-to-DC powerconverter 126 for conversion and for use by the network element in thenetwork element's power supply 128. In the method described above, thepower network and the information network become, and are, the samenetwork. The DC power that is provided or supplied at the subscriberpremise 104 for feeding the power needs of the network element isassumed to be of sufficient DC current and DC voltage required fordelivery to the network element. In many embodiments of the invention,this required DC current and DC voltage will be of a high level (e.g.,−48 volts, −24 volts) that necessitates the use of a DC converter by thenetwork element to convert the delivered DC power to a usable level(e.g., 5 volts, 3.3 volts) for use by the network element's componentsubsystems as distributed by the power supply 128 (e.g., 3.3 volts, 1.8volts, or 0.9 volts) which in some embodiments combines the DC powerdelivered by a plurality of DC-DC converters 126.

In alternate embodiments of the invention, such as those providingprimary telephony line services without the use of a traditional POTSline, an uninterruptible power source or battery backup 150 device maybe required to continue to meet lifeline telephony regulatoryobligations.

It will be appreciated that according to the method of an embodiment ofthe invention as described above, that with an increasing number ofactive subscribers the power needs of the network element, such as ONU110, increases and so does the amount of supplied DC power with eachactive subscriber. The method provides a solution to match increasingpower demands with additional power supplied remotely from each activesubscriber in a progressive manner wherein communications from thenetwork element to each new active subscriber is established after thenew active subscriber provides a sufficient threshold of electricalpower to the network element.

Referring to FIG. 3 in view of FIG. 1 a, a FTTC or FTTN network is shownwherein the implementation of the network is a point-to-point (PtP)fiber optic wide area network. The ODF 300 lacks passive splitters andillustrates the one-to-one direct connection between terminals 112 andcabinets 114 and the CO 100. Such PtP networks may be implemented by apoint-to-point gigabit or 10 gigabit Ethernet network (e.g. activeEthernet IEEE 802.3 communication network) with complementary componentssuch as optical transceiver 302 and data link layer 304 in accordancewith whatever specific protocol is chosen for the network implementation(e.g., Ethernet). The optical transceiver 302 may be plugged into orcomprise an optical port or socket, the optical port serving as a sitefor coupling to a fiber and for performing the O/E and E/O conversions.Some embodiments of network elements may be made without opticaltransceivers, however having an optical port for later installation ofan optical transceiver. In embodiments of network elements made with anoptical transceiver, the optical port and the optical transceiver areessentially the same. Some form factors for optical transceiver 302include, but not limited to, SFF, SFP, SFP+, and XFP. Additionally someembodiments may use dual fibers for communications with the CO, head-endor OLT. FIG. 3 serves to show that the method of an embodiment of theinvention as previously described, as in FIG. 2, is a method apatheticand even naïve of the design choice or implementation of the fiber inthe loop network. The method works equally well for both PtP networksand PONs.

Referring to FIG. 4 in view of FIG. 1 a, an alternative embodiment inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated wherein the primarytelephony line service 400 is served by legacy POTS from a CO or remoteDigital Loop Carrier (DLC) network 402. Traditionally, a CO or DLC 402is the sole power source for legacy POTS lines; however in thisembodiment the SLIC 132 provides the DC power to twisted wire pair 130b, 130 c, and 130 d transmission line. Twisted wire pair transmissionline 130 a is connected to the CO or DLC 402 to a network element, suchas ONU 404. ONU 404 additionally comprises a splitter 406 that combinesthe POTS service with the electrical CO modem 122 communicationstogether on the same twisted wire pair 130 b through an electrical portor socket (e.g., RJ-11). The splitter 406 places the POTS service at alower and more narrow frequency (termed narrowband NB) than the xDSLmodem communications which utilize higher frequencies to achieve greaterbandwidth for data communications (termed broadband BB). In thisembodiment a section of the twisted wire pair 130 b transmission linecarries POTS (NB) signal, xDSL modem electrical communications (BB) andthe DC power (both a DC current and a DC voltage). This section oftwisted wire pair 130 b lies between and connects the ONU 404, through asecond electrical port or socket (e.g., RJ-11) to the NID 136 of asubscriber premise 104. At the NID 136, another splitter 408 filters orseparates the POTS NB signal and the xDSL modem electricalcommunications BB providing the NB signal to connect the subscriber'sprimary telephone line service 400 and providing the BB signal to theSLIC 132.

It will be appreciated that in this embodiment of the invention anuninterruptable power supply (UPS) or battery backup source is notrequired. If a subscriber suffers a power outage, the CPE/ST 134 will bewithout power and thus broadband communications will be down as well.This is tolerable since the outage will cause powered equipment such asTVs and the subscriber's LAN to be down as well. The CPE/ST 134 will notbe able to provide DC power to the twisted wire pair. The CO or DLC 402routinely monitors conditions on the twisted wire pair transmission lineand sensing a loss of power on the line can provide the necessary DCpower to continue providing POTS services such as primary telephony lineservice 400.

Referring to FIG. 5 in view of FIG. 1 a, in which another alternativeembodiment in accordance with the present invention is illustratedwherein the fiber in the loop network is a FTTP, FTTdp, FTTD or Fiber tothe Home (FTTH) network and the subscriber-powered network element is anONT 500 at or near the NID 136. The ONT 500 does not support multiplesubscriber premises thus aggregation methods are not necessary in theTC-Layer and CO modem adaptation device 502 and only a single DAA 124,xDSL CO modem 122 and DC-to-DC converter 126 are required to perform amethod of an embodiment of the invention. The FTTP or FTTH networkillustrated in FIG. 5 is a passive optical network (PON). If primarytelephone service line is to be provided by the FTTP or FTTH networkthen a UPS/battery backup source 150 for the CPE/ST 134 may be requiredfor life-line regulatory obligations.

Referring to FIG. 6 in view of FIG. 5, in which yet another alternativeembodiment in accordance with the present invention is illustratedwherein the FTTP or FTTH does not provide a primary telephone serviceline. In this embodiment the POTS services provided by a CO or DLC 402pass through the NID 136 with no splitting and on a separate twistedwire pair 600 from the twisted wire pair 130 which provides broadbandservices to the subscriber premise 104 and provides subscriber power tothe ONT 500 as previously described and indicated.

Referring to FIG. 7 a in view of FIG. 1 a, an alternative embodiment inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated wherein a FTTP,FTTdp, FTTD or FTTH network is shown with a subscriber-powered ONT 700,which is powered by Power over Ethernet (PoE). The FTTP or FTTH networkshown being a passive optical network (PON) implementation. PoE isdefined by the IEEE 802.3af and IEEE 802.3at specifications (herebyincluded by reference) and defines a way to build Ethernetpower-sourcing equipment and powered device terminals in local areanetworks (LANs). The specification involves delivering 48 volts of DCpower over unshielded twisted-pair wiring in LANs. It works withexisting LAN cable plant, including Category 3, 5, 5e or 6; horizontaland patch cables; patch-panels; outlets; and connecting hardware,without requiring modification.

A CPE/ST 702 comprising a communication device such as an Ethernet MACand PHY 704 device is in electrical communication with a first Powerover Ethernet (PoE) capable device 706. The PoE capable device 706internally comprises an electrical coupling device such as a PowerSourcing Equipment (PSE) device in accordance with the 802.3af or802.3at standard. The PSE electrical coupling device couples electricalEthernet signals and DC power, which may be derived from subscribermains power, provided by DC power source 138. The first PoE capabledevice 706 passes electrical Ethernet signals as well as DC powerthrough WAN port 129 as a combined electrical WAN signal over Ethernetcable 708 to an electrical port or socket (e.g., RJ-45) at a second PoEcapable device 710 in the ONT 700. The ONT 700 being at or near the NID136. The second PoE capable device 710 comprises an electrical couplingdevice such as a Powered Device (PD) in accordance with the 802.3af or802.3at standard. The second PoE capable device 710 is capable ofdecoupling the electrical Ethernet signals from the combined electricalWAN signal, which are then provided to a communication device such asthe Ethernet PHY 712, and decouples DC power which is then provided tothe ONT 700 power supply 128. The second PoE capable device 710 maycontain a DC-to-DC converter to supply (not shown) to a sufficientthreshold the appropriate DC current and DC voltage needs of the ONT700. The communication device Ethernet PHY 712 is in electricalcommunication with a TC-Layer and Ethernet MAC adaptation device 714 tocomplete the broadband communication flow (e.g., bundling orencapsulating and sending data into upstream subscriber data packets orframes; receiving and un-bundling or decapsulating data into downstreamsubscriber data packets or frames; managing the transmission of packetsor frames on the network via medium access and bandwidth allocationprotocols; providing necessary messaging and end point behavior, andchecks, reports and may correct for detectable errors) and to indicatethe differences in ONT 700 over previous ONT 500. It will be appreciatethat in alternative embodiments wherein TC-Layer and Ethernet MACadaptation device 714 is in electrical communication with a plurality ofEthernet PHY 712 devices the TC-layer and Ethernet MAC adaptation device714 may also pool or multiplex/demultiplex together (e.g., bufferedusing a first in first out manner) the communications from the pluralityof Ethernet PHY 712 devices. The CPE/ST 702 is provided power duringsubscriber power outages by a UPS/battery backup 150 for lifelinepowering requirements.

Referring to FIG. 7 b, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 7 a is shownwith a CPE/ST 705 comprising PoE capable device(s) 706 and DC powersource 138. The CPE/ST 705 passes electrical Ethernet signals betweenCPE/ST 703 a and ONT 700 via Ethernet cables 707 and 708 respectively aswell as coupling DC power from the DC power source 138 onto 708 as acombined electrical WAN signal through WAN port 129. CPE/ST 705 isprovided power during subscriber power outages by the UPS/battery backup150 for lifeline powering requirements.

Referring to FIG. 7 c, an alternative embodiment of FIG. 7 b is shownwith a legacy CPE/ST 703 b that is not PoE capable. PoE capable device706 passes electrical Ethernet signals from Ethernet MAC and PHY 704 viaEthernet cable 709 as well as DC power provided by DC power source 138over Ethernet cable 708 as a combined electrical WAN signal through WANport 129 to the second PoE capable device 710 in ONT 700. The CPE/ST 703b and CPE/ST 705 are provided power during subscriber power outages bythe UPS/battery backup 150 for lifeline powering requirements.

Referring to FIG. 8 in view of FIG. 7 a, a flow chart of a method of anembodiment of the present invention utilizing PoE is illustrated.Powering a network element of a FTTP, FTTdp, FTTD, or FTTH network, suchas ONT 700 in FIG. 7 a, from a subscriber terminal 702 or 705 at asubscriber premise 104 entails providing or supplying a DC power (e.g.,from DC power source 138 to PSE 706) of sufficient threshold toelectrically power the network element onto a twisted wire pairs orEthernet cable 708 from the subscriber terminal as indicated by block800. At block 802, electrical Ethernet communications or signals fromthe Ethernet MAC and PHY device 704 or Ethernet PHY 712 are coupled tothe same Ethernet cable 708 transmission line with the DC power. Atblock 804, the DC power and electrical Ethernet signals are transmitted,driven or sent as a combined electrical WAN signal through WAN port 129or PoE capable device 710 across the Ethernet cable 708 transmissionlines from the subscriber terminal 702 or 705 to the network element,such as ONT 700 or vice versa. At block 806, the driven DC power andelectrical Ethernet signals as the combined electrical WAN signal areaccepted or received at the network element over the same Ethernet cable708. At block 808, the network element decouples (e.g. using a high passfilter) the electrical Ethernet signals from the DC power, or vice versa(e.g., using a low pass filter) with the second PoE capable device 710.At block 810, the network element performs DC-to-DC power conversion(e.g., by PoE capable device 710 and by power supply 128 which in someembodiments combines the DC power delivered by a plurality of PoEcapable devices 710) for use by the network element.

Referring to FIG. 9 a and FIG. 9 b in view of FIG. 7 a, a FTTP, FTTdp,FTTD or FTTH network is shown wherein the implementation of the networkis a point-to-point (PtP) fiber optic wide area network. The ODF 300lacks passive splitters and illustrates the one-to-one direct connectionbetween terminals 112, cabinets 114, NIDs 136 and the CO 100. Such PtPnetworks may be implemented by a point-to-point gigabit or 10 gigabitEthernet network (e.g. active Ethernet communication network) withcomplementary components such as optical transceiver 302 and data linklayer 304 in accordance with whatever specific protocol is chosen forthe network implementation (e.g., active Ethernet). The opticaltransceiver 302 may be plugged into or comprise an optical port orsocket, the optical port serving as a site for coupling to a fiber andfor performing the O/E and E/O conversions. Some embodiments of networkelements may be made without optical transceivers, however having anoptical port for later installation of an optical transceiver. Inembodiments of network elements made with an optical transceiver, theoptical port and the optical transceiver are essentially the same. Someform factors for optical transceiver 302 include, but not limited to,SFF, SFP, SFP+, and XFP. Additionally some embodiments may use dualfibers for communications with the CO, head-end or OLT. FIG. 9 a andFIG. 9 b serve to show that the PoE exemplary embodiment of theinvention as previously described, as in FIG. 8, is a method apatheticand even naïve of the design choice or implementation of the fiber inthe loop network. The method works equally well for both PtP networksand PONs.

Referring now to FIG. 10 in view of FIG. 1 a, an alternative embodimentin accordance with the present invention is illustrated wherein a FTTC,FTTdp, FTTD or FTTN network is shown with a subscriber-powered ONU 1000,which is in communication with a subscriber's terminal or CPE 1010 overa coaxial cable 1008 transmission line using communication devices suchas Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) devices 1004/1012. The FTTC orFTTN network shown being a passive optical network (PON) implementation.MoCA is an industry driven specification for delivering networking,high-speed data, digital video, and entertainment services throughexisting or new coaxial cables in homes.

A CPE/ST 1010 comprising a communication device such as MoCA networkclient 1012 device is in electrical communication with an electricalcoupling device such as first bias T device 1005. Bias T's are coaxialcomponents that are used whenever a source of DC power is connected to acoaxial cable. The bias T does not affect the AC or RF transmissionthrough the cable. The first bias T device 1005 couples MoCA electricalcommunication signals from MoCA Network Client 1012 with DC power ofsufficient threshold to electrically power ONU 1000 from DC power source138 as a combined electrical WAN signal though WAN port 129 andtransmitted over coaxial cable 1008 through an electrical port (e.g.,F-type or N-type connector) to another electrical coupling device suchas second bias T device 1006 in the network element ONU 1000, the ONU1000 being located away from the NID 136 (in this embodiment shown) andmay serve a plurality of subscribers. The second bias T device 1006 iscapable of decoupling (e.g., using a high pass filter) the MoCAelectrical communication signals, which is provided to a secondcommunication device such as the MoCA access network controller device1004, and decoupling (e.g. using a low pass filter) DC power to the ONU1000 DC-to-DC converter 126 from the combined electrical WAN signal oncoaxial cable 1008. The DC-to-DC converter 126 supplying to a sufficientthreshold the appropriate DC current and DC voltage regulation to thepower supply 128 which in some embodiments combines the DC powerdelivered by a plurality of DC-DC converters 126 and distributes variousvoltage power-supply rails (e.g., 3.3 volts, 1.8 volts, or 0.9 volts) toONU 1000's subsystem devices. The MoCA access network controller device1004 is in electrical communication with a 1:N Aggregation with MoCAadaptation layer device 1002 that aggregates ormultiplexes/demultiplexes (e.g., buffered using a first in first outmanner) the broadband communication and service flows between the CO andsubscribers. Additionally, in some embodiments, the broadbandcommunications may comprise data that has priority over other data andthe 1:N aggregation with MoCA adaptation layer device 1002 can aggregateor multiplex/demultiplex priority data before data that does not havepriority. The CPE/ST 1010 is provided power during subscriber poweroutages by a UPS/battery backup 150 for lifeline powering requirements.In this way, a bias T device serves to inject and extract DC power tosupply the powering needs of the ONU 1000 while combining MoCA signalson a same subscriber-powered coaxial cable 1008.

Referring to FIG. 11 in view of FIG. 10, a flow chart of a method of anembodiment of the present invention utilizing power over coax isillustrated. Powering a network element of a FTTC, FTTdp, FTTD, or FTTNnetwork, such as ONU 1000 in FIG. 10, from a subscriber terminal 1010 ata subscriber premise 104 entails providing or supplying a DC power(e.g., from DC power source 138) of sufficient threshold to electricallypower ONU 1000 to bias T 1005 for coupling onto a coaxial cable 1008from the subscriber terminal as indicated by block 1100. At block 1102,electrical MoCA communications or signals from the MoCA network clientdevice 1012 or MoCA access network controller 1004 are coupled to thesame coaxial cable 1008 with the DC power. At block 1104, the DC powerand electrical MoCA signals are transmitted, driven or sent as acombined electrical WAN signal though WAN port 129 or bias T 1006 acrossthe coaxial cable 1008 from the subscriber terminal 1010 to the networkelement, such as ONU 1000 or vice versa with respect to the electricalMoCA communications or signals. At block 1106, the driven DC power andelectrical MoCA signals as the combined electrical WAN signal areaccepted or received at the network element over the same coaxial cable1008. At block 1108, the network element decouples (e.g. using a highpass filter) the electrical MoCA signals from the DC power, or viceversa (e.g., using a low pass filter) with the second bias T device1006. At block 1110, the network element performs DC-to-DC powerconversion on the supplied and decoupled DC power for use by the networkelement.

Referring to FIG. 12 in view of FIG. 10, an alternative embodiment inaccordance with the present invention is illustrated wherein a FTTP,FTTdp, FTTD, or FTTH network is shown wherein the implementation of thenetwork is a point-to-point (PtP) fiber optic wide area network. The ODF300 lacks passive splitters and illustrates the one-to-one directconnection between terminals 112, cabinets 114, NIDs 136 and the CO 100.Such PtP networks may be implemented by a point-to-point gigabit or 10gigabit Ethernet network (e.g. active Ethernet communication network)with complementary components such as optical transceiver 302 and datalink layer 304 in accordance with whatever specific protocol is chosenfor the network implementation. The optical transceiver 302 may beplugged into or comprise an optical port or socket, the optical portserving as a site for coupling to a fiber and for performing the O/E andE/O conversions. Some embodiments of network elements may be madewithout optical transceivers, however having an optical port for laterinstallation of an optical transceiver. In embodiments of networkelements made with an optical transceiver, the optical port and theoptical transceiver are essentially the same. Some form factors foroptical transceiver 302 include, but not limited to, SFF, SFP, SFP+, andXFP. Additionally some embodiments may use dual fibers forcommunications with the CO, head-end or OLT. FIG. 12 serves to show thatthe power over coax exemplary embodiment of the invention as previouslydescribed, as in FIG. 10, is a method apathetic and even naïve of thedesign choice or implementation of the fiber in the loop network. Themethod works equally well for both PtP networks and PONs. FIG. 12 alsoserves to illustrate the power over coax method with an ONT 1200 as wellas to show compatibility with other MoCA capable CPE devices 1210 thatshare network communications with the MoCA access network controller1004 on the same coaxial cable 1008, though such compatibility can beused with ONUs as well. FIG. 12 also serves to illustrate the use of anoptical transceiver 302 and data link layer 304, in accordance withwhatever specific protocol is chosen for the network implementation thatdoes not need to perform 1:N aggregation or multiplexing/demultiplexingof multiple MoCA connections. A DC block 1207 is used to isolate DCpower while allowing data signals to pass through unaffected to allowuse of other CPEs 1210 that do not provide DC power to the coaxial cable1008. The DC block 1207 may be internal to the CPE 1210 or external (notshown). The CPE/ST 1010 is provided power during subscriber poweroutages by a UPS/battery backup 150 for lifeline powering requirements.

Referring to FIG. 13 a in view of FIG. 12, an alternative embodiment ofthe invention using a FTTP, FTTdp, FTTD, or FTTH network is shownwherein the implementation of the wide area network is a PON 102. Inthis embodiment a CPE/ST 1302 comprising bias T 1005 and DC power source138 is shown. The bias T 1005 of CPE/ST 1302 combines the MoCA or RFcommunications from coaxial cable 1308 onto coaxial cable 1008transmission lines with DC power from the DC power source 138 as acombined electrical WAN signal though WAN port 129. The bias T device1006 is capable of decoupling the MoCA or RF communication signals,which are then provided to the MoCA or RF access network controllerdevice 1004, and decoupling DC power signal to the DC-to-DC converter126 from coaxial cable 1008. The DC-to-DC converter 126 supplying theappropriate DC current and DC voltage regulation to the power supply 128to distribute power at different voltage rails (e.g., 3.3 volts, 1.8volts, or 0.9 volts) throughout all the ONT 1200 subsystem devices. Thisallows simplification and use of legacy (i.e., non-subscriber powered)CPE/ST devices 1300/1310 while providing subscriber-power from CPE/ST1302 to the network element ONT 1200 over same coaxial cable 1008 usedfor communications.

Referring to FIG. 13 b in view of FIG. 13 a, an alternative embodimentof the invention using a FTTP, FTTdp, FTTD or FTTH network is shownwherein the implementation of the wide area network is a PON 102. Inthis embodiment a CPE/ST 1304 comprising bias T 1305 and DC power source138 is shown and a UPS/battery backup source 150 for DC power source 138is provided, which may be required for regulatory obligations. The biasT 1305 of CPE/ST 1304 combines the MoCA or RF communications fromsubscriber side coaxial cables 1308 and from network element sidecoaxial cable 1008 with DC power from the DC power source 138 andtransmitted as a combined electrical signal on coaxial cables 1008 and1308. CPE/ST 1301 has a bias T 1306 that decouples MoCA or RFcommunications and DC power from coaxial cable 1308. Bias T 1306providing DC power to the CPE/ST 1301's power supply 1307 fordistributing the appropriate voltage supply rails to all of CPE/ST 1301electrical subsystems. The embodiment enables a CPE/ST, such as CPE/ST1301, and a network element, such as ONT 1200, to be powered by a secondCPE/ST, such as CPE/ST 1304, within the customer premise via the samecoaxial cable transmission line used for network communications, such ascoaxial cable 1008 and 1308.

Referring to FIG. 14 a in view of FIG. 10, an alternative embodiment ofthe invention using a FTTC, FTTdp, or FTTN network is shown wherein theimplementation of the wide area network is a PON 102. In this embodimentthe bias T 1005 and DC power source 138 are external to the CPE/ST 1300and are located at or near the NID 136. The bias T 1005 combines MoCA orRF communications from subscriber side coaxial cable 1308 onto networkelement side coaxial cable 1008 with the DC power from the DC powersource 138 of sufficient threshold to electrically power ONU 1000 as acombined electrical WAN signal. This allows simplification of CPE/STdevices 1300/1310 and simplification of subscriber installation.Generally, power is not available at the NID 136; however power at theNID may be available in future Greenfield land (i.e., undeveloped landas opposed to Brownfield land) installations and this embodiment allowsa network element, such as ONU 1000, to be powered from the NID withpower derived from subscriber mains power via the same coaxial cabletransmission line used for network communications, such as coaxial cable1008 and 1308.

Referring to FIG. 14 b in view of FIG. 14 a, an alternative embodimentof the invention using a FTTC, FTTdp, or FTTN network is shown whereinthe implementation of the wide area network is a PON 102. In thisembodiment the bias T 1305, DC power source 138 and a UPS/battery backupsource 150 are external to the CPE/ST 1301 and are located at or nearthe NID 136. The bias T 1305 combines MoCA or RF communications fromsubscriber side coaxial cables 1308 and network element side coaxialcable 1008 with the DC power from the DC power source 138 as a combinedelectrical WAN signal. This allows simplification of subscriberinstallation as well as access for maintenance of the UPS/battery backupsource 150 providing power during electrical power blackout enablinglifeline services. Additionally, this embodiment enables a CPE/ST, suchas CPE/ST 1301, and a network element, such as ONU 1000, to be poweredfrom the NID with power derived from subscriber mains power via the samecoaxial cable transmission line used for network communications, such ascoaxial cable 1008 and 1308.

In yet another alternative embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention, HomePNA is used as the communication method between anONU/ONT and a plurality of subscriber terminal/CPEs. HomePNA is anindustry standard for home networking solutions based on internationallyrecognized, open and interoperable standards that allow worldwidedistribution of triple-play services, such as IPTV, voice and Internetdata by leverage existing telephone wires (twisted wire pair) or coaxialcable transmission line. Thus, alternative embodiments of FIGS. 1-6 arepossible substituting xDSL devices with HomePNA capable devices forsubscriber powering network elements over twisted wire pairs as well asFIGS. 10-14 b with substitution of MoCA devices with HomePNA capabledevices for subscriber powering network elements over coaxial cable.

In yet another alternative embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention, ITU-T G.hn standard is used as the communication methodbetween an ONU/ONT and a plurality of subscriber terminal/CPEs. G.hn isyet another industry standard for home networking solutions based oninternationally recognized, open and interoperable standards that allowworldwide distribution of triple-play services, such as IPTV, voice andInternet data by leverage existing telephone wires (twisted wire pair)or coaxial cable transmission line. Thus, alternative embodiments ofFIGS. 1-6 are possible substituting xDSL devices with G.hn capabledevices for subscriber powering network elements over twisted wire pair,and as well as FIGS. 10-14 b with substitution of MoCA devices with G.hncapable devices for subscriber powering network elements over coaxialcable. A plurality of G.hn devices may be connected to the samesubscriber-powered twisted wire pair 130 or subscriber-powered coaxialcable 1008.

While DC power is the preferred method of delivering power from asubscriber's premise to a network element, AC power is also possible.Alternate embodiments of FIGS. 1-6 and FIGS. 10-14 b are possible withsubstitution of DC power with AC power. Alternate embodiments whereinelements such as: DC power source 138, 1307; DC-DC converter 126; DCblock 1207; UPS backup 150 and electrical coupling devices such as: SLIC132; DAA 124, 125; and bias T 1005, 1006, 1305, 1306 are appropriatelysubstituted or designed with AC power in mind are also possible.

While UPS/battery backup 150 in various embodiments of the presentinvention have been shown to be an external device. Alternateembodiments with the UPS/battery backup 150 internal to the CPE,communication and/or power-coupling device are possible (not shown).Alternate embodiments with the UPS/battery backup 150 may be combinedwith DC power source 138. It will be appreciated by those skilled in thearts, that during lifeline powering events that network elements such asONUs and ONTs and CPE/ST equipment may power down non-essential devices(e.g., modems, transceivers, power monitors) to extend the time thatlifeline services can be provided. Such powering down events may alsoinclude reducing the line rates of communications.

It will be appreciated that in the various embodiments of the presentinvention the network elements such as ONU or ONT may have circuitry tomeasure their power usage (not shown). Additionally, alternativeembodiments of the ONUs and ONTs with power measurement, metering ormonitoring circuitry may report their power usage back to the OLT orhave their power meter or power measurement circuits reset, via themanagement or control channel with the OLT. Service Providers may usethis information to reimburse subscribers for network elementelectricity usage and may reimburse government entities for relatedtaxation regulations. In yet another alternative embodiment of theinvention, an embodiment of a CPE or subscriber terminal may measure theamount of power supplied or injected over the transmission line betweenthe subscriber terminal and the network element. The CPE or subscriberterminal may report (e.g., via the network element) the power suppliedto the Service Provider or an affiliate via TR-069 or similar protocol.Additionally, the CPE or subscriber terminal may report the powersupplied to a subscriber service entity (e.g., Smart Home PowerMonitoring application).

It will be appreciated that, while not shown, the subscriber terminal orCPE (e.g., CPE/ST shown in FIG. 1 a, 1 b, 3-7 c, 9, 10, 13 a-14 b) maybe a set-top box (e.g., IPTV, DVR, Media Hub) or may be incorporatedinto a television set (e.g., HDTV display). For example, a set-top boxor a television incorporating an embodiment of the invention may power aservice provider network element which provides services such astelephony, internet access, broadcast video, interactive videocommunications, and on-demand video. The set-top box, HDMI adaptor orhigh definition television (HDTV) may utilize G.hn communications andmay be a slave G.hn device served by the service provider's networkelement serving as the master G.hn device controlling one or more slaveG.hn based set-top box, HDMI adaptor or HDTV device.

It will also be appreciated that embodiments of the invention have theadvantage of reducing installation labor time and cost. A significantportion of the time taken to connect subscribers to the ServiceProvider's network is the time and labor involved in provisioning powerto the network element (e.g., ONU, ONT) and obtaining government orregulatory permits when the location of the network element requiresdeployment of new power-main connections and power supplying equipment.Since embodiments of the invention use the communication medium used toprovide services (e.g., internet access, voice over internet protocol,broadcast TV, video conferencing) to also provide electricity to thenetwork element, additional time and labor to power the network elementis saved. Furthermore, self-installation by subscribers is possibleassuming a Service Provider has established service access to thepremise (e.g., fiber connection or copper drop from a fiber).Self-installation by a subscriber may be made as simple as plugging apower cord into a wall outlet from the Service Provider provided orSubscriber purchased subscriber terminal (e.g., CPE, set top box, HDTV)and connecting the subscriber terminal to an electrical wire pair orcable from a wall phone jack or coaxial cable outlet. The reduction ininstallation labor time and cost may be significantly more than the costof the network element (e.g., ONT) and the subscriber terminal.Additionally, Subscribers and Service Providers benefit from the ease ofinstallation associated with embodiments of the invention due to thereuse of existing premise wiring which may preclude the deployment ofnew subscriber-premise overlay wiring that may compromise, duringinstallation, the integrity of the subscriber premise thermalinsulation, natural gas lines, sewer lines and mains power lines.

FIG. 15 a is an example illustration of a circuit model of an electricalcoupling device for coupling data communications and electrical powerbetween a subscriber terminal and a network element. The circuit modeluses hybrid transformers 1510 n, 1510 s to couple four-wires ontotwo-wire transmission lines for full duplex communications, whereintransmit and receive communication signals each comprise a pair ofconductors (e.g., four wires total) as does the transmission line (i.e.,two conductors) 1512 and communication signals pass through thetransformers with minimal loss. The hybrid transformer 15010 n, 1510 sblocks or cancels out transmit signals from appearing at the receiveport as well as blocks or cancels out receive signals from appearing atthe transmit port thus enabling full duplex communications. A balancingnetwork 1514 is a circuit comprising of capacitance and resistance andsometimes inductance, forming a complex impedance network astransmission lines are not purely resistive but rather a compleximpedance causing both the amplitude and phase to vary as signalfrequencies vary. The electrical power signal is also injected onto 1516and recovered 1518 from the transmission line 1512 via center-tappedtransformers and Z_(L) is representative of the load of the networkelement. Equivalent circuits may be produced that, as previouslymentioned, are transformer-based, optically-based, capacitivelycoupled-based, active silicon/integrated circuit-based (e.g.,transistors, op-amps), or some combination thereof. Additional circuitsor their equivalents for electrical protection and isolation (e.g.,isolation transformer, low frequency blocking capacitors, common modechoke), AC-to-DC conversion (e.g., bridge rectifier, reservoircapacitor), transmit and receive signal filtering (e.g., capacitive,inductive and resistive elements) and device detection circuits todetermine when a network element is attached or removed from thetransmission line (e.g., methods utilizing a low level current) may alsobe included in embodiments of the invention. Additionally, modulators ormixers, low noise amplifiers and additional signal filters can beemployed in embodiments to adjust the frequency of communication signals(e.g., xDSL, Ethernet, MoCA, G.hn, G.fast) as well as the voltage andcurrent characteristics over the frequency of the electrical powersignal.

Referring now to FIG. 15 b in view of FIG. 15 a and FIG. 1 a, anexemplary illustration of a circuit model of an electrical couplingdevice for coupling data communications and DC electrical power betweenthe subscriber terminal 104 and the network element ONU 110 of FIG. 1 ais shown. xDSL client modem 140 is coupled to SLIC 132 comprising oftransmit signal filter 1520, receive signal filter 1522 and transmissionline hybrid coupling circuit 1510 s. A DC power source 138 is coupled toSLIC 132 and SLIC 132 also couples to twisted wire pair 130. xDSL CO orHead-end modem 122 is coupled to DAA 124 comprising of transmit signalfilter 1524, receive filter 1526 and transmission line hybrid couplingcircuit 1510 n. DAA 124 decouples electrical power signal carried ontwisted wire pair 130 and provides the decoupled electricity to DC-DCconverter 126. Referring now to FIG. 15 c, an embodiment similar to FIG.15 b, however, incorporating AC power is shown. AC power supply 1550,which may derive power from subscriber mains power, is coupled to SLIC134 and a bridge rectifier and reservoir capacitor 1555 to regulate andconvert AC power signal to a DC power signal which is then provided toDC-DC converter 126.

Referring now to FIG. 16 a, an exemplary illustration of a circuit modelof an electrical coupling device for coupling Ethernet communicationsand DC electrical power is shown. An Ethernet power source equipmentdevice (PSE) 1610 and an Ethernet powered device (PD) 1612 utilizecenter-tapped transformers on two pairs of conductors 1614 (e.g., twotwisted wire pairs) to evenly transfer electricity from the PSE 1610 toPD 1612. An alternative embodiment may utilize the spare twisted wirepairs 1616 instead of twisted wire pairs 1614. Referring now to FIG. 16b, an exemplary illustration of a circuit model for coupling Ethernetcommunications and DC electrical power between a subscriber terminal 702and a network element (e.g., ONU) 700 in view of FIG. 16 a and FIG. 7 ais shown. Two pairs of conductors 708 are used to support fast Ethernetcommunications (i.e. 100 Mbit) and electrical power transfer between PSE706 and PD 710. Alternative embodiments may use four pairs of conductorsto support gigabit Ethernet on CAT 5 cable or fast Ethernet over CAT 3cable. It will be appreciated while embodiments of the inventionemploying Ethernet have been shown and referenced as using two or fourpairs of conductors, as Ethernet is generally understood to be deployedand thus referenced as such to aid in teaching the invention,embodiments of the invention can use variants of Ethernet that use onlya single twisted wire pair of conductors (i.e., one, two or four pairsor up to 4 twisted wire pairs can be used). However, xDSL (e.g., VDSL2,G.fast) and G.hn technologies are preferred in embodiments using singletwisted wire pairs given the maturity and robustness of xDSL and G.hntechnology over the medium of single twisted wire pairs.

Referring now to FIG. 17 a, an exemplary illustration of a circuit modelof an electrical coupling device for coupling data communications and DCelectrical power is shown. An alternative method of combing datacommunications (e.g., DOCSIS, DOCSIS 2.0, DOCSIS 3.0, DOCSIS 3.1, MoCA,MoCA 2.0 or G.hn modem) and electrical power on the same transmissionmedium, preferably coaxial cable, utilizes a bias T. A bias T for acoaxial cable 1708 comprises a feed inductor 1710, capable of blockinghigh frequency signals (e.g., communication signals), and a blockingcapacitor 1712, capable of blocking low frequency signals (e.g., DCelectrical power, low frequency AC electrical power). Datacommunications signals are passed through IN 1714 and OUT 1716 portswith only the blocking capacitor in series. The inductor 1710 preventscommunications signals from passing through the Power 1718 port and thecapacitor 1712 prevents DC power from leaving through the IN 1714 port.The OUT 1716 port comprises both the communication signal from the IN1714 port and the DC power from the Power 1718 port. Additional circuitsor their equivalents may be incorporated to decrease signal losses(e.g., utilizing bias T designs from waveguides or microstrips,additional inductors and capacitors to form resonant frequency circuits,and shunt capacitors) and protect from application of reverse voltage(e.g., an internal blocking diode).

Referring now to FIG. 17 b, an exemplary illustration of a circuit modelof an electrical coupling device for coupling data communications and DCelectrical power between a subscriber terminal 1010 and a networkelement (e.g., optical node, ONU) 1000 in view of FIG. 17 a and FIG. 10is shown. A coaxial cable 1008 is used to support data communication andelectrical power transfer between bias T 1005 and bias T 1006. Blockingcapacitors allow data communications to flow between MoCA client 1012and MoCA controller 1004 while blocking electrical power. And blockinginductors allow electrical power flow between DC power source 138 andDC-DC converter 126 while blocking data communications. Additionalcircuitry to translate four-wires onto two-wire transmission lines forfull duplex communication is not shown but assumed (e.g., hybridtransformer as previously discussed) to be part of the communicationdevices or modem subsystems (e.g., MoCA client 1012, MoCA controller1004). It will be appreciated that bias T 1305 of FIG. 13 b and FIG. 14b does not comprise a blocking capacitor, such as 1712, to allow DC orAC power to flow onto coaxial cables 1008 and 1308.

As previously mentioned, device detection circuits to determine when anetwork element is attached or removed from the transmission line mayalso be included in embodiments of the invention. An exemplary detectioncircuit and process includes a resistive element or resistive load (e.g.10Ω-35 kΩ resistor) at the network element placed between poweredconductors of the transmission line. In alternative embodiments theresistive load may vary as a function of phase or frequency of a voltageor current. A subscriber terminal senses the resistance between poweredconductors through an applied low level detection current (e.g., 20 mAdc) before applying additional voltage and current (e.g., 250 mA dc at50 Vdc absolute). Additionally, a network element may vary theresistance seen by the subscriber terminal in a predetermined manner andthereby indicate to the subscriber terminal the power requirements ofthe network element. In other words, the subscriber terminal can havepredetermined expectations for the resistance or load values applied bythe network element that indicate to the subscriber terminal the powerrequirements of the sensed network element. Furthermore, a subscriberterminal may monitor the applied power at predetermined intervals (e.g.,50 ms) for power drops indicating that the network element has beendisconnected or a problem with the transmission line. Power dropslasting longer than a second predetermined interval (e.g., 400 ms) willtrigger the subscriber terminal to cease applying electrical power tothe transmission line(s) until the subscriber terminal senses (e.g.,again through a low level current) the predetermined resistive elementof the network element once more. In an alternative embodiment whereinthere are multiple subscriber terminals sharing the communicationtransmission line to the network element, after a first subscriberterminal has sensed the network element and provided electrical power tothe network element subsequent subscriber terminals that couple to thecommunication transmission line can sense the presence of electricalpower already on the transmission line and not provide additional power.In yet another alternative embodiment, a subscriber terminal (i.e., asecond subscriber terminal) can be powered over a shared communicationtransmission line from another subscriber terminal (i.e., a firstsubscriber terminal).

It will be appreciate that as previously discussed some embodiments ofthe invention may employ a low level detection current driven by asubscriber terminal to sense the network element. This low leveldetection current and associated detection voltage may be at levelsbelow the threshold to sufficiently power the network element. A purposeof the low level detection current is to sense the presence of thenetwork element and the load applied by the network element can be usedto indicate the power requirements of the network element to thesubscriber terminal, as previously discussed. Once the presence of thenetwork element is sense by the subscriber terminal using a detectioncurrent, additional current or voltage can be applied by the subscriberterminal to a threshold to sufficiently power the network element, aspreviously discussed. This threshold may be determined by the powerrequirements of the network element as indicated by the load applied bythe network element sensed by the subscriber terminal, again aspreviously discussed.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of subscriber terminals ornetwork elements may incorporate a large capacitor or small battery thatcan power the subscriber terminal or network element to support sendinga Dying Gasp message. A Dying Gasp message or signal is sent by thesubscriber terminal or network element to the head-end or CO letting thehead-end or CO (e.g., an OLT) know that a subscriber terminal (DyingGasp message relayed by the network element for the subscriber terminal)or network element has lost electrical power and is about to go offline.This saves a service provider time by alerting them to what has causedthe connection failure. It will be appreciated that the large capacitoror small battery can be part of the power supply of the subscriberterminal or network element or the capacitors of the power supply (i.e.,power supply reserves) can be used to support sending a Dying Gaspmessage. It will be appreciated that the large capacitor, small batteryor power supply reserves in some embodiments can power the subscriberterminal or network element to send the Dying Gasp message for 50 ms orsending the Dying Gasp message multiple times. Additionally, parts orsubcomponents of the subscriber terminal or network element (e.g.,modems, transceivers) can be turned off when sensing power loss and theminimum number of subcomponents and network interfaces to supportsending the Dying Gasp message maintained with power from the largecapacitor, small battery or power supply reserves. Additionally theDying Gasp message can be a bit indicator in the overhead section of amessage frame used for network communications. Furthermore, the DyingGasp message or signal can be sent between the subscriber terminal andthe network element as well.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of the subscriber terminal ornetwork element can incorporate power status indicators (e.g., LED powerstatus indicators that blink or change color). For example statusindicators at the subscriber terminal can indicate whether thesubscriber terminal is ready to supply electrical power to the networkelement or if the subscriber terminal is providing electrical power tonetwork element or if the subscriber terminal has received a Dying Gaspmessage from the network element. The network element status indicatorscan indicate whether the network element is receiving electrical powerfrom the subscriber terminal or if the network element is running onbattery reserves or if the network element has received a Dying Gaspmessage from the subscriber terminal (network terminal is running onbattery reserves). It will be appreciated there can also becommunication status indicators at embodiments of the subscriberterminal or network element to indicate whether or not communication hasbeen established or is taking place (e.g., blinking LED) between thesubscriber terminal and the network element. It will be appreciated thatthe CO can monitor the power status (e.g., power ready, steady state, onbattery reserves) of network elements and subscriber terminals throughnetwork administration or management messages or network system alarms.

Referring now to FIG. 18, an exemplary illustration of the frequencyspectrum used by various communication protocols is shown. While notcomplete with all possible communication protocols nor drawn to scale,FIG. 18 serves to illustrate that communication protocols have definedfrequency distributions and that the methods of embodiments of theinvention for combining an electrical power signal or electricity andelectrical data communication signals on the same communication mediumas a combined electrical signal are methods that are apathetic and evennaïve of the design choice or implementation of the data communicationsignals used between the network element and the subscriber.Communication devices compatible or compliant with communicationprotocols such as but not limited to: ADSL ANSI T1.413, ITU-T G.992.1(G.DMT), ITU-T G.992.2 (G.lite); ADSL2 ITU-T G.992.3/4; ADLS2+ ITU-TG.992.5; VDSL ITU-T G.993.1; VDSL2 ITU-T G.993.2; DOCSIS 1.0, ITU-TJ.112 (1998); DOCSIS 1.1, ITU-T J.112(2001); DOCSIS 2.0, ITU-T J.122;DOCSIS 3.0, DOCSIS 3.1, ITU-T J.222, ITU-T J.222.0, ITU-T J.220.1, ITU-TJ.222.2, ITU-T J.222.3; HomePNA (HPNA) 2.0, ITU-T G.9951, ITU-T G.9952,ITU-T G.9953; HomePNA (HPNA) 3.0, ITU-T G.9954 (02/05); HomePNA (HPNA)3.1, ITU-T G.9954 (01/07); HomePlug 1.0, TIA-1113; HomePlug AV, HomePlugAV2, IEEE P1901; Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) 1.0, MoCA 1.1,MoCA 2.0; ITU-T G.hn, ITU-T G.9960, ITU-T G.9961, ITU-T G.hnta, ITU-TG.9970, ITU-T G.cx, ITU-T G.fast are congruent with methods andembodiments of the invention and these specifications are herebyincluded by reference.

Preferred embodiments of the invention supply electrical power from thesubscriber premise to the network element on the same communicationmedium on a frequency separate (preferably at a lower frequency) fromthe frequency of the network communication signals used between thenetwork element and the subscriber premise. For example, using VDSL2 tocommunicate data between a network element (e.g. ONT/ONU) and asubscriber premise over a twisted wire pair transmission line whileremotely powering the network element from the subscriber premise can beaccomplished by transmitting DC power (i.e., essentially at zerofrequency), AC power at 60 Hz or a DC power signal or AC power signalcentered at some frequency other than that used by VDSL2 since VDSL2occupies frequencies between 25.8 KHz and 30 MHz. In another example,using MoCA to communicate between a network element and a subscriberpremise over a coaxial cable while remotely powering the network elementcan be accomplished by transmitting DC power, AC power at 60 Hz or a DCpower signal or AC power signal centered at some frequency other thanthat used by MoCA since MoCA occupies frequencies between 860 MHz and1.55 GHz. In yet another example, using ITU-T G.hn to communicatebetween a network element and a subscriber premise over either a twistedwire pair or coaxial cable transmission line while remotely powering thenetwork element can be accomplished by transmitting a DC power, AC powerat 60 Hz or a DC power signal or AC power signal centered at somefrequency other than that used by ITU-T G.hn since ITU-T G.hn occupiesfrequencies between 25.8 KHz and 100 MHz-150 MHz range or bands(depending on speed mode of G.hn network).

Alternatively, while not preferred, embodiments of the inventiontransmitting power remotely from the subscriber premise to the networkelement on a frequency occupied, at least in part, by the communicationsignals used to communicate between the network element and thesubscriber premise are envisioned to be possible. The transmittedelectrical power would raise the noise power in the communicationprotocol's frequency spectrum, however as long as the communicationsignals are transmitted at power levels greater than the raised noisepower, communications between the network element and the subscriberpremise are still be possible. For example, modern xDSL (e.g., ads1,ads12, vds1, vds12, G.fast) modems or G.hn modems measure the noisepower spectrum encountered on their transmission lines dynamically orconstantly. This information is used to determine the power level oftheir communication signal transmissions. Therefore, the rise in noisepower from remotely transmitting electrical power from the subscriberpremise to supply the network element at a frequency that overlaps withthe communication frequencies may be compensated by the xDSL modemsraising their communication signal transmission levels. However, modemswith communication signal power levels beyond conventional signal powerlevels may be needed. Additionally, the subscriber premise xDSL or G.hnmodem should observe the power spectral density or make a spectraldensity estimation of the twisted wire pair transmission line before anytransmission, which can then be used to determine the power levels tosupply power and data signals to the network element.

It will be appreciated that while embodiments of the invention have beenshown or referenced employing different methods of injecting electricalpower to the network element at different locations, any method orcombination of injection methods and locations can be employed andinjecting electrical power to supply the network element from thesubscriber electrical power mains can occur anywhere along thecommunication transmission line between the subscriber terminal and thenetwork element.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of subscriber terminals andnetwork elements can employ power saving modes and that electricallypowering the network element from subscriber mains power over the samemedium used for communication as previously described in embodiments ofthe invention do not prohibit using power saving modes. These powersaving modes can include, but not limited to, reducing line rates ofcommunications as well as powering down non-essential devices such asmodems or transceivers for communicating with a subscriber in which thesubscriber is no longer active or is no longer supplying the networkelement with sufficient power (e.g., as measured by power monitoringcircuitry), as previously discussed.

It will be appreciated that while progressively powering a networkelement (e.g., an ONU) has previously been discussed, an embodiment of anetwork element can employ electrical power load balancing amongsubscriber terminals that are supplying the network element withelectrical power. For example, referring now to FIG. 1 a, power supply128 which is electrically coupled to a plurality of DC-DC converters 126may balance the network element electrical power draw (e.g., varying aload) from associated subscriber terminals by balancing the electricalpower drawn from DC-DC converters 126. Electrical Power load balancingcan include equal electrical power drawn from all subscriber terminalsto electrical power drawn from only a single subscriber terminal.

It will be appreciated that, in an alternative embodiment, networkadministration or management messages can be exchanged betweensubscriber terminals and network elements wherein subscriber terminalsadjust the voltage or current of their electrical power signal supplyingthe network element responsive to a network message received from thenetwork element or from the CO. Furthermore, in yet another alternativeembodiment of the invention, network elements and subscriber terminalscan utilize a communication channel modulated over the normal datacommutations (i.e., out of band communication channel in a frequencyband that does not interfere with normal data communications) tocommunicate messages only seen between a network element and asubscriber terminal. These messages can include requests from thenetwork element to a subscriber terminal to adjust the voltage orcurrent limits of the electrical power signal being supplied by thesubscriber terminal to the network element.

It will be further appreciated that network elements requestingsubscriber terminals to adjust their voltage or current supplied to thenetwork element for the purpose of load balancing can additionally bedone for the purpose of improving line conditions. For example, a powersupply at a subscriber terminal may have faulty switch circuitryinducing additional line noise interfering with communications orreducing the data rate of communications. A network element can usemessages to subscriber terminals to determine which subscriber terminalis faulty and additionally determine if reduced electrical power signalvoltage or current levels from the faulty subscriber terminal caneliminate the line noise. Alternatively, the network element can requestthe faulty terminal cease supplying an electrical power signal andrequest one or more other subscriber terminals to increase theirelectrical power signal voltage or currents to compensate for the lossof the faulty subscriber terminal.

It will be appreciated that bundling or encapsulation and unbundling ordecapsulation, as previously mentioned, includes the process of takingdata from one communication protocol and translating or adapting it intoanother communication protocol so the data can continue across anetwork. As data is sent across a network (e.g., from either the serviceprovider to a subscriber or vice versa) the data travels throughcommunication protocol layers that can be represented by the OpenSystems Interconnection (OSI) model. As the data flows down the OSImodel the data is segmented into packets or frames (e.g., as datapayload units) with additional control information appended to thepackets or frames. The control information can include, but not limitedto, source and destination addresses (e.g., as header information),packet or frame ordering to reassemble the data, as well as errordetection means (e.g., as cycle redundancy check (CRC) in a trailer).This process of bundling control information with the segmented data isencapsulation and occurs before data is sent. A similar process occursat a receiving end in which the control information is unbundled orremoved from the segmented data as the data flows up the OSI model andis called decapsulation. Encapsulation and decapsulation can beperformed in a combination of hardware and software. For example,referring now to FIG. 5, xDSL client modem 140 encapsulates (e.g., atOSI model Layer 2) upstream (i.e., from the subscriber terminal to theservice provider at CO or headend) subscriber data using an xDSLprotocol (e.g., VDLS2, G.fast). The upstream subscriber data may be, forexample, data that is already encapsulated (e.g., at OSI model Layer 2or 3) by one or more protocols (e.g., VoIP 146, Ethernet 142, WiFi 146or IPTV 144) at the subscriber terminal. The xDSL encapsulated upstreamsubscriber data is then coupled with electrical power and transmitted toONT 500 via twisted wire pair 130 and xDSL CO modem 122 thendecapsulates (e.g., at OSI model Layer 2) the xDSL encapsulated upstreamsubscriber data according to the xDSL protocol and the upstreamsubscriber data is then provided to TC-Layer & CO Modem adaptation layer502. TC-Layer and CO modem adaptation device 502 then encapsulates(e.g., at OSI model Layer 2) the upstream subscriber data using a PONprotocol (e.g., G-PON, 10G-PON, E-PON, 10G-EPON) which is thentransmitted to OLT 108 using PON transceiver 116. A similar processoccurs in the downstream direction (i.e., from the service provider tothe subscriber terminal) when TC-Layer and CO modem adaptation device502 receives downstream subscriber data encapsulated using a PONprotocol (e.g., G-PON, 10G-PON, E-PON, 10G-EPON) by OLT 108 and,assuming the downstream subscriber data is intended for an associatedsubscriber terminal, decapsulates (e.g., at OSI model Layer 2) thedownstream subscriber data according to the PON protocol which is thenprovided to xDSL CO modem 122. xDSL CO modem 122 then encapsulates(e.g., at OSI model Layer 2) the downstream subscriber data using anxDSL protocol (e.g., VDSL2, G.fast) which is then transmitted to xDSLclient modem 140 via twisted wire pair 130 while ONT 500 is still beingpowered electrically over twisted wire pair 130 from subscriber terminal134. xDSL client modem 140 then decapsulates (e.g., at OSI model Layer2) the downstream subscriber data according to the xDSL protocol and thedata is then provided to the intended recipient device or port (e.g.,VoIP 146, IPTV 144, Ethernet 142, WiFi 146).

There can be circumstances wherein the conditions of wires inside asubscriber premise are not ideal to sustain desired high-speedcommunications. In such conditions it will be further appreciated that,in an embodiment of the invention, a first subscriber terminal cancommunicate and electrically power a network element over a first set ofelectrical wires or cables and the first subscriber terminal can bepowered by a second subscriber terminal communicating and electricallypowering the first subscriber terminal over a second set of electricalwires or cables. For example, a first subscriber terminal electricallypowers and communicates using VDSL2 or G.fast over one or more twistedwire pairs out to a network element and the first subscriber terminalitself is electrically powered by and communicates using MoCA over acoax cable to a second subscriber terminal. The first subscriberterminal can be located at the NID (i.e., side of the subscriberpremise) or in a pedestal nearby while the second subscriber terminalcan be located within the subscriber premise. The first subscriberterminal including a VDSL2 or G.fast modem and a MoCA modem andfunctioning to converter data between the two protocols.

Although the invention has been described in terms of particularimplementations or embodiments, one of ordinary skill in the art, inlight of this teaching, can generate additional implementations,embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of orexceeding the scope of the claimed invention. They are not intended tobe exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed,and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light ofthe above teaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in orderto best explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilizethe invention and various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. Accordingly, it is to beunderstood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered byway of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and shouldnot be construed to limit the scope thereof

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for transmitting electrical power anddata communications from a subscriber terminal for a wide area network,the wide area network having a network element with at least one opticalport for coupling respectively to at least one optical fiber forcommunicating with a service provider and at least one electrical portfor coupling respectively to at least one electrical wire pair or cablefor communicating with the subscriber terminal, the subscriber terminalhaving a power source for producing an electrical power signal having acurrent and a voltage, and the subscriber terminal having acommunication device for transmitting and receiving electrical datacommunications signals, and the subscriber terminal having an electricalcoupling device for coupling to the electrical wire pair or cable andfor coupling to the power source and for coupling to the communicationdevice and for combining the electrical power signal with the electricaldata communications signal as a combined electrical WAN signal onto theelectrical wire pair or cable for transmission to the network element, amethod for transmitting electrical power and data communication signalsfrom the subscriber terminal at a subscriber premise to the networkelement of the wide area network comprising the steps of: (a) providingby the subscriber terminal a detection current derived from thesubscriber premise mains power across at least one electrical wire pairor cable sufficient to detect a predetermined load across an electricalwire pair or cable; (b) providing by the subscriber terminal anelectrical power signal having additional current or voltage than thedetection current across the electrical wire pair or cable responsive todetecting the predetermined load by the subscriber terminal across theelectrical wire pair or cable; (c) coupling at the subscriber terminalthe electrical power signal with the electrical data communicationssignal from the communication device as the combined electrical WANsignal by the electrical coupling device; and (d) transmitting at thesubscriber terminal the combined electrical WAN signal to the networkelement through the electrical wire pair or cable, whereby thesubscriber terminal is capable of providing electrical power derivedfrom the subscriber premise mains power to the network element over theelectrical wire pair or cable and the subscriber terminal is capable ofelectrical data communications with the network element over the sameelectrical wire pair or cable.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theelectrical coupling device includes one or more means selected from thegroup consisting essentially of: a transformer-based circuit; anoptically-based circuit: a capacitively coupled circuit; asilicon/integrated circuit-based circuit; a coupling capacitor; acoupling transformer; a center-tapped transformer; an isolationtransformer; a bridge rectifier; a blocking inductor; a common modechoke; an inductive coupler; a low pass filter; a bandpass filter; and ahigh-pass filter.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communicationdevice is selected from the group consisting essentially of: a DigitalSubscriber Line (xDSL) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line(ADSL) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL2) modem; aAsymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL2+) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL2) modem; a Power LineCarrier modem; a Power Line Communication modem; a Data Over CableService Specification (DOCSIS) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 2.0 (DOCSIS 2.0) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 3.0 (DOCSIS 3.0) modem; an Ethernet physical layer (PHY)device; an Ethernet media access control (MAC) device; a Multimedia overCoax Alliance (MoCA) capable device; a Multimedia over Coax Alliance 2.0(MoCA 2.0) capable device; and a ITU.T G.hn capable device.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the subscriber terminal is provided by theservice provider to the subscriber for self-installation of thesubscriber terminal by the subscriber.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe subscriber terminal is installed by the subscriber.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the subscriber terminal includes self-installationinstructions comprising: at the subscriber premise: (a0) plugging apower cord from the subscriber terminal into a power outlet; and (a1)connecting the electrical wire pair or cable to the subscriber terminal.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber terminal is provided abattery for backup in case of subscriber premise mains power loss. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber terminal includes meansfor providing a local area network (LAN) or a WiFi network.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the subscriber terminal provides voice overIP service (VoIP) to the subscriber.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinthe additional voltage or current of the electrical power signal isadjusted to predetermined levels to meet the power requirements of thenetwork element as indicated by the predetermined load detected acrossthe electrical wire pair or cable.
 11. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: (e) monitoring the applied electrical powersignal for power drops lasting a predetermined time interval andresponsive to a power drop lasting for a predetermined time intervalceasing the transmission of the electrical power signal or the combinedelectrical WAN signal.
 12. An optical network unit for a wide areanetwork adapted to provide services to a plurality of subscriberterminals, the optical network unit comprising: at least one opticaltransceiver for coupling respectively to at least one optical fiber foroptically communicating with a service provider, at least one electricalport for coupling respectively to at least one electrical wire pair orcable for communicating with at least one subscriber terminal, at leastone electrical coupling device electrically coupled to an electricalport and adapted to couple or decouple an electrical power signal and anelectrical data communications signal to or from a combined electricalWAN signal onto or from the electrical wire pair or cable from asubscriber terminal through the electrical port, at least one modemcommunication device electrically coupled to each electrical couplingdevice for receiving and transmitting the electrical data communicationsignals with the subscriber terminal(s), a transmission convergencelayer (TC-Layer) or media access controller (MAC) communication deviceelectrically coupled to each optical transceiver and electricallycoupled to each modem communication device and adapted to electricallyaggregate subscriber data communications received from the modemcommunication devices for transmission to the service provider throughan optical transceiver and adapted to electrically de-aggregatecommunications received from the service provider through the opticaltransceiver for transmission to a subscriber terminal(s) by a modemcommunication device, and at least one power converter electricallycoupled respectively to an electrical coupling device for accepting theelectrical power signal and for converting the electrical power signalfor use by the optical network unit, whereby the optical network unit ispowered by at least one subscriber terminal over an electrical wire pairor cable and the optical network unit is disposed to communicateelectrically with a plurality of subscriber terminals and the opticalnetwork unit is disposed to communicate optically with the serviceprovider.
 13. The optical network unit of claim 12, wherein a modemcommunication device is selected from the group consisting essentiallyof: a Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL) modem; a Asymmetrical DigitalSubscriber Line (ADSL) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line(ADSL2) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL2+) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL2) modem; a Power LineCarrier modem; a Power Line Communication modem; a Data Over CableService Specification (DOCSIS) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 2.0 (DOCSIS 2.0) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 3.0 (DOCSIS 3.0) modem; an Ethernet physical layer (PHY)device; an Ethernet media access control (MAC) device; a Multimedia overCoax Alliance (MoCA) capable device; a Multimedia over Coax Alliance 2.0(MoCA 2.0) capable device; and a ITU.T G.hn capable device.
 14. Theoptical network unit of claim 12, wherein the TC-layer and MACcommunication device essentially conforms to a communication protocolstandard selected from the group consisting essentially of: G-PON ITU-TG.984; XG-PON ITU-T G.987; E-PON IEEE 802.3ah; 10G-EPON IEEE 802.3av;B-PON ITU-T G.983; WDM-PON; Active Ethernet IEEE 802.3; and RFoG SCTEIPS910.
 15. The optical network unit of claim 12, wherein an electricalcoupling device includes one or more means selected from the groupconsisting essentially of: a transformer-based circuit; anoptically-based circuit: a capacitively coupled circuit; asilicon/integrated circuit-based circuit; a coupling capacitor; acoupling transformer; a center-tapped transformer; an isolationtransformer; a bridge rectifier; a blocking inductor; a common modechoke; an inductive coupler; a low pass filter; a bandpass filter; and ahigh-pass filter.
 16. The optical network unit of claim 12, wherein theoptical network unit is further adapted to couple to a battery forbackup in case of subscriber terminal power loss.
 17. A method forelectrically powering an optical network unit for a wide area network,the optical network unit having at least one optical transceiver forcoupling respectively to at least one optical fiber for communicatingwith a service provider and having a plurality of electrical ports forcoupling respectively to a plurality of electrical wire pairs or cablesfor communicating with a plurality of subscriber terminals, and theoptical network unit having at least one electrical coupling devicecoupled to an electrical port for separating an electrical power signalfrom a combined electrical WAN signal and for combining an electricalsubscriber data communications signal to the combined electrical WANsignal, and the optical network unit having a plurality of modemcommunication devices electrically coupled to each electrical couplingdevice and the optical network unit having a transmission convergencelayer (TC-Layer) or media access controller (MAC) communication deviceelectrically coupled to each modem communication device, and the opticalnetwork unit having at least one power converter coupled respectively toan electrical coupling device for accepting the electrical power signaland for converting the electrical power signal for use by the opticalnetwork unit, the method for electrically powering the optical networkunit comprising the steps of: (a) accepting through at least one opticaltransceiver optical data communications from the service provider; (b)converting the optical data communications to electrical serviceprovider data communications by the optical transceiver; (c) providingthe electrical service provider data communications to the TC-Layer orMAC communication device which is disposed to electrically de-aggregatethe electrical service provider data communications as electricalsubscriber data communications; (d) providing a subscriber datacommunication to a modem communication device disposed to transmit theelectrical subscriber data communication over a electrical wire pair orcable as the electrical subscriber data communication signal; (e)coupling the electrical subscriber data communication signal with thecombined electrical WAN signal by an electrical coupling device onto aelectrical wire pair or cable; (f) decoupling the electrical powersignal from the combined electrical WAN signal by the electricalcoupling device; (g) providing the decoupled electrical power signal tothe power converter; and (h) converting the electrical power signal toelectrical power by the power converter for use by the optical networkunit, whereby the optical network unit is capable of electricallyde-aggregating communications from a service provider and communicatingthe electrically de-aggregated communications to subscriber terminalsand the optical network unit is capable of being electrically poweredover an electrical wire pair or cable by a subscriber terminal and thenetwork element is capable of communicating with the subscriber terminalover the same electrical wire pair or cable.
 18. The method of claim 17,further comprising the steps of: (i) decoupling a second electricalpower signal from a second combined electrical WAN signal by a secondelectrical coupling device; (j) providing the decoupled secondelectrical power signal to a second power converter; and (k) convertingthe second electrical power signal to electrical power by the secondpower converter for use by the optical network unit, whereby the opticalnetwork unit is capable of electrically de-aggregating communicationsfrom a service provider and communicating the electrically de-aggregatedcommunications to subscriber terminals and the optical network unit iscapable of being electrically powered over an electrical wire pairs orcables respectively by a plurality of subscriber terminals and thenetwork element is capable of communicating with the plurality ofsubscriber terminals, respectively, over the same electrical wire pairor cable.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the modem communicationdevice is selected from the group consisting essentially of: a DigitalSubscriber Line (xDSL) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line(ADSL) modem; a Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL2) modem; aAsymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL2+) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL) modem; aVery-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL2) modem; a Power LineCarrier modem; a Power Line Communication modem; a Data Over CableService Specification (DOCSIS) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 2.0 (DOCSIS 2.0) modem; a Data Over Cable ServiceSpecification 3.0 (DOCSIS 3.0) modem; an Ethernet physical layer (PHY)device; an Ethernet media access control (MAC) device; a Multimedia overCoax Alliance (MoCA) capable device; a Multimedia over Coax Alliance 2.0(MoCA 2.0) capable device; and a ITU.T G.hn capable device.
 20. Themethod of 17, wherein the TC-layer and MAC communication deviceessentially conforms to a communication protocol standard selected fromthe group consisting essentially of: G-PON ITU-T G.984; XG-PON ITU-TG.987; E-PON IEEE 802.3ah; 10G-EPON IEEE 802.3av; B-PON ITU-T G.983;WDM-PON; Active Ethernet IEEE 802.3; and RFoG SCTE IPS910.
 21. Themethod of claim 17, wherein an electrical coupling device includes oneor more means selected from the group consisting essentially of: atransformer-based circuit; an optically-based circuit: a capacitivelycoupled circuit; a silicon/integrated circuit-based circuit; a couplingcapacitor; a coupling transformer; a center-tapped transformer; anisolation transformer; a bridge rectifier; a blocking inductor; a commonmode choke; an inductive coupler; a low pass filter; a bandpass filter;and a high-pass filter.
 22. The method of claim 17, wherein the TC-layerand MAC communication device includes means for aggregating thecommunications received from a plurality of modem communication devices.